Dog bone shaped exercise device

ABSTRACT

An exercise device configured to be held by a person during exercise in order to provide proper spacing between body parts such as ankles or knees, and optionally pressure applied to by the person by squeezing the device during exercise includes an elongated, generally rectangular block shaped body having four enlarged convex rounded corner portions, a front concave surface portion, a rear concave surface portion, left and right concave end surface portions, concave top and bottom surface portions, wherein each of the corner portions merge with a different set of at least three of the concave surface portions.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of PCT/US2023/011648 filed Jan. 26, 2023, which claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/303,813, filed Jan. 27, 2022, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to an exercise device that may be used in Pilates type exercises. In particular, it relates to a new lightweight device that has a number of unique innovations.

State of the Art

Exercise machines utilized in the performance of physical exercises originated by Joseph Pilates typically are performed on a stationary apparatus called a reformer. An exemplary embodiment of such a reformer is disclosed in our U.S. Pat. No. 8,721,511 granted May 13, 2014 or one of its daughter patents, Nos. 8,915,829; 9,132,310; 9,132,311; and 9,289,645, the content of each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. One embodiment of a reformer is shown in FIG. 1 .

The reformer 10 is a generally rectangular structure having a frame 12, a head end 14, a foot end 16, and parallel side members 18 upon which a carriage 20 rides back and forth between the head and foot ends. The carriage 20 is biased toward the foot end by one or more springs 22. A generally U shaped foot bar 24 is mounted near the foot end 16 for a user 26 to rest his or her feet on while lying or sitting on the carriage 20 and pushing the carriage 20 away from and toward the foot end 16 of the carriage frame 12.

Another exercise device developed by Joseph Pilates exercises is the Magic Circle, a spring ring device. An updated version of such a device is shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,217, the content of which is also incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. This device is a relatively large hoop, approximately 14 inches in diameter, with two handles, designed to be grasped by a user with her hands gripping the handles and held between outstretched arms or held between the user's knees and compressed to perform various exercises. These exercises may be done while standing on a floor, sitting, or sitting/lying on the carriage of a reformer. This device is relatively large and limited in its versatility, primarily to the two exercises just described.

When a person 26 sits or lies on a reformer carriage 20, for example, and places his/her feet or hands on the foot bar 24, it is sometimes difficult to maintain a proper alignment and separation of the ankles and knees during an exercise. This is because the person 26, if lying on the reformer carriage 20, can't readily see his/her ankles or knees. Often an instructor will have the person hold a rolled-up towel or pliable ball between the ankles or between the knees as a que to maintaining proper distance between these joints during an exercise. In the case of a ball, however, if the user moves a bit the ball can drop out of position between the user's ankles or knees, which then requires to user to get off of the reformer, retrieve the ball, and then start all over again. What is needed in this instance, other than mirrors on the ceiling, is some better way to facilitate queuing.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An exercise device in accordance with the present disclosure addresses this need. Furthermore, the exercise device in accordance with the present disclosure may be utilized in many different exercise environments and regimens in addition to use as a queuing device on a reformer as described above.

One exemplary embodiment of an exercise device in accordance with the present disclosure is a solid compressible polymeric foam body having a shape generally resembling that of an elongated block shaped dog bone. This exercise device has six concave outer face surface portions and four convex corner portions each merging with three of the six surface portions to form the block shaped body. The exercise device has a front outer face surface portion, a rear outer face surface portion, a left outer surface portion, a right outer face surface portion, a top outer face surface portion and a bottom outer face surface portion. Each convex corner portion merges with three adjacent different face portions. One of the unique features of the exercise device of the present disclosure are the enlarged convex corners of the device. This shape permits the device to be easily held or gripped by a user without danger of it being easily dislodged from its position.

One exemplary embodiment is a block shaped body having a front face surface portion, a rear face surface portion opposite the front face surface portion, a left end face surface portion, a right end face surface portion opposite the left end face surface portion, a top face surface portion, and a bottom face surface portion opposite the top face surface portion. Four enlarged convex corner portions each merge with a different set of at least three of the front face surface portion, the rear face surface portion, the left end face surface portion, the right end face surface portion, the top face surface portion, and the bottom face surface portion to complete the block shaped body of the exercise device. Each of these corner portions is a generally dome shape such that it makes the device resemble a dog bone. Each of the front face surface portion, the rear face surface portion, the left end face surface portion, the right end face surface portion, the top face surface portion, and the bottom face surface portion is preferably concave.

In one exemplary embodiment, a distance between the front face surface portion and the rear face surface portion is less that a distance between the left end face surface portion and the right end face surface portion. The distance between the top face surface portion and the bottom face surface portion is greater than the distance between the front face surface portion and the rear face surface portion and less than the distance between the left end face surface portion and the right end face surface portion.

In one embodiment, each enlarged convex corner portion has a dome shape. In such an exemplary embodiment the distance between the front face surface portion and the rear face surface portion may be between 3 and 4 inches. The distance between the front face surface portion and the rear face surface portion may be between 3 and 4 inches. In such an embodiment, the distance between the left end face surface portion and the right end face surface portion is between 6 and 7 inches and the distance between the top face surface portion and the bottom face surface portion may be between 5 and 6 inches. As a result, a person using the exercise device essentially has at least three different distances between faces to choose from in deciding how to place the exercise device, for example, between the person's knees: so as to space the knees apart by between 3-4 inches, 4-5 inches, or 6-7 inches, depending on which sets of opposing faces touch the knees. In an alternative embodiment, the distance between the front face surface portion and the rear face surface portion may be between 2-3 inches. The distance between the left end face surface portion and the right end face surface portion would be 5-6 inches. The distance between the top face surface portion and the bottom face surface portion would be 3-4 inches, giving a user a different set of three spacings to utilize depending on the person's physique. Each of these exemplary embodiments of the exercise device in accordance with the present disclosure may be made of a compressible polymeric foam, a natural or synthetic rubber or other substantially elastic material formed into a generally block shaped body. In some embodiments the device may be hollow and inflatable, filled with an inflating gas such as air.

Another exemplary embodiment of an exercise device in accordance with the present disclosure is a block shaped body having a front concave face surface portion, a rear concave face surface portion opposite the front concave face surface portion, a left concave end face surface portion, a right concave end face surface portion opposite the left concave end face surface portion, a top concave face surface portion, a bottom concave face surface portion opposite the top concave face surface portion. The block shaped body has four dome shaped convex corner portions each merging with a different set of at least three of the front concave face surface portion, the rear concave face surface portion, the left concave end face surface portion, the right concave end face surface portion, the top concave face surface portion, and the bottom concave face surface portion. A distance through the block shaped body between the front concave face surface portion and the rear concave face surface portion is less than a distance through the block shaped body between the left concave end face surface portion and the right concave end face surface portion. A distance through the block shaped body between the top concave face surface portion and the bottom concave face surface portion is preferably greater than the distance through the block shaped body between the front concave face surface portion and the rear concave face surface portion and preferably less than the distance through the block shaped body between the left concave end face surface portion and the right concave end face surface portion.

In any one of the above embodiments each enlarged corner portion may have a stretched dome shape. A distance through the block shaped body between the front concave face surface portion and the rear concave face surface portion may preferably be between 3 and 4 inches. A distance through the block shaped body between the left concave end face surface portion and the right concave end face surface portion may preferably be between 6 and 7 inches, and a distance through the block shaped body between the top concave face surface portion and the bottom concave face surface portion may be between 5 and 6 inches. These and other features and attributes of the device in accordance with the present disclosure will become more apparent when taken in conjunction with the drawing and the detailed description set forth below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional reformer exercise apparatus with a person on the carriage doing an exercise.

FIG. 2 is a separate perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of an exercise device in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a front face view of the device shown in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 4 is a left side face view of the device shown in FIG. 2

FIG. 5 is a right side face view of the device shown in FIG. 2

FIG. 6 is a top view of the device shown in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the device shown in FIG. 2

FIG. 8 is a rear face view of the device shown in FIG. 2 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of an exercise device 100 in accordance with the present disclosure is shown in FIG. 2 . This exemplary exercise device 100 is a unitary generally rectangular shaped solid block body somewhat resembling a dog bone, that has six face portions 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, 112 and four convex corner portions 114, 116, 118, and 120. Each of the front face portion 102, the left side face portion 104, the right side face portion 106, the top face portion, the bottom face portion 110 and the back face portion 112 is shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 respectively. Each of the face portions is preferably concave. Each of the corner portions is preferably partially dome shaped and each merges with a different set of at least three face portions. Thus convex shaped corner portion 114 merges with front face portion 102, left side face portion 104 and top face portion 108. Convex shaped corner portion 116 merges with bottom face portion 110, left face portion 104 and front face portion 102. Convex shaped corner portion 118 merges with front face portion 102, right side face portion 106, and bottom face portion 110. Convex shaped corner portion 120 merges with front face portion 102, right side face portion 106 and top portion 108.

Similarly, convex corner portion 114 merges with rear face portion 112, left side face portion 104 and top face portion 108. Convex shaped corner portion 116 merges with bottom face portion 110, left face portion 104 and rear face portion 112. Convex shaped corner portion 118 merges with rear face portion 112, right side face portion 106, and bottom face portion 110. Convex shaped corner portion 120 merges with rear face portion 112, right side face portion 106 and top portion 108.

Each of the corner portions 114, 116, 118 and 120 may have a generally dome shape or may also have a gently curved or even straight portion 122 spanning between the front face portion 102 and the rear face portion 112 as is shown in FIG. 3 in order to space the front face portion 102 from the rear face portion 112 by a desired distance. This shape modifies the corner portions each into a stretched dome shape.

The device 100 can be used between the legs of a user for correcting alignment of the ankles, knees and hips during exercises such as squats, heel raises and knee bends. It can also be used between the upper arm and the torso to align the shoulder for rotator cuff exercises in addition to being used to properly space legs, ankles and knees when doing exercises on, for example, a reformer 10 as mentioned above. For example, the user 26 may place the device 100 between her ankles to maintain a desired spacing therebetween during a particular exercise.

Because of the three different dimensions, e.g. thicknesses between the front and rear face surface portions, left and right side face surface portions, top and bottom face surface portions, the device 100 can be used to align the legs for optimum function regardless of the shape of the person's legs. The flexibility of being able to use three different thicknesses with one piece of equipment makes this device 100 unique and useful for users with both normal and abnormal leg alignment. Users would typically need 3 or 4 different tools to perform all of the functions of this one tool.

The device 100 is preferably made of an injection molded elastic polymeric foam material or can alternatively be formed of a natural rubber. The device 100 is preferably formed as a single body in a clamshell mold. Each of the six face surface portions is preferably concave so that the corners form knob-like or dome shaped protruding corners to the solid body thus making the device 100 easy to retain between a user's ankles, legs or arms.

The device 100 may also be grasped and squeezed to perform an exercise. The elastic resistance of the foam of one exemplary embodiment can be used, when compressed, to strengthen the user's adductors, ankle stabilizers and pelvic floor when the user squeezes the device 100 during squat, heel raise or knee bend exercises. Furthermore, strengthening the medial muscles of the leg including the adductors, pelvic floor and ankle stabilizers is beneficial for users with ankle, knee, hip or spinal pathologies. Furthermore, the device 100 having three different thickness dimensions provides three different amounts resistance to compression which can provide a range of resistances that can be applied during exercise.

The short dimension of the device 100, i.e. between the front and rear face surface portions can be used between a person's ankles to maintain alignment of the feet and ankles during standing exercises like heel lifts, squats, knee bends and plies or when using exercise equipment like a reformer, as in FIG. 1 . For example, if a user is knock-kneed or genu valgum and has a greater distance between their ankles than their knees when standing in a parallel leg position, they can use the medium or long dimension of the device 100, i.e. between top and bottom surface portions or right and left side surface portions, respectively, between the ankles to strengthen the medial line and improve leg alignment and muscular balance. The short dimension of the device 100, can be used just above the knees for users who are knock-kneed or genu valgum to increase adductor strength and to correct alignment. For users who are bow-legged where the ankles are closer than the knees when standing upright, the medium or long dimension of the device 100 of the can be placed above the knees to draw the knees into better alignment during any of the above exercises.

The amount of resistance provided by the varying amounts of foam in each direction allows the user to vary the resistance through the adductors and pelvic floor by changing the position of the device 100. The short dimension of the device 100 can be oriented at the top of the inner thighs to strengthen the pelvic floor and assist with a healthy pregnancy or minimize incontinence.

The medium dimension can be used when the device 100 is placed between the calves of the user and then the user squeezes the device 100 to strengthen the ankle stabilizers. The device 100 can also be used under the pelvis to support the body during Bridge exercises. Having three different sizes in one device 100 provides comfortable options for a wide variety of users.

Many changes may be made to the device 100 of this disclosure. For example, the dimensions of the device 100 may have different proportions than has been specifically shown and described above. For example, the three different dimensions between the surfaces, i.e. thicknesses, described above are related in inches. They may alternatively be described in metric units or terms. The proportions between each of the three thicknesses may differ. The above are merely exemplary. The surface portions may be flat or concave or may have a different contour than as specifically shown and described. The device 100 may preferably also include a structural core of a rigid material or a heavy solid material so as to provide an additional resistance against deformation when utilized or when grasped by a user. Alternatively, should less resistance be desired, the device 100 may be formed with an internal void region instead of being solid or having a structural core between the surfaces to reduce the resistance provided between the opposing surface regions. Accordingly, all such alternatives, variations and modifications are intended to be encompassed within the scope of and as defined by the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An exercise device comprising: a block shaped body having a front face surface portion, a rear face surface portion opposite the front face surface portion, a left end face surface portion, a right end face surface portion opposite the left end face surface portion, a top face surface portion, a bottom face surface portion opposite the top face surface portion, and four convex corner portions each merging with a different set of at least three of the front face surface portion, the rear face surface portion, the left end face surface portion, the right end face surface portion, the top face surface portion, and the bottom face surface portion.
 2. The exercise device according to claim 1 wherein each of the front face surface portion, the rear face surface portion, the left end face surface portion, the right end face surface portion, the top face surface portion, and the bottom face surface portion is concave.
 3. The exercise device according to claim 1 wherein a distance between the front face surface portion and the rear face surface portion is less that a distance between the left end face surface portion and the right end face surface portion.
 4. The exercise device according to claim 3 wherein a distance between the top face surface portion and the bottom face surface portion is greater than the distance between the front face surface portion and the rear face surface portion and less than the distance between the left end face surface portion and the right end face surface portion.
 5. The exercise device according to claim 4 wherein each corner portion has a partial or stretched dome shape.
 6. The exercise device according to claim 3 wherein the distance between the front face surface portion and the rear face surface portion is between 3 and 4 inches.
 7. The exercise device according to claim 3 wherein the distance between the front face surface portion and the rear face surface portion is between 3 and 4 inches.
 8. The exercise device according to claim 7 wherein the distance between the left end face surface portion and the right end face surface portion is between 6 and 7 inches.
 9. The exercise device according to claim 8 wherein the distance between the top face surface portion and the bottom face surface portion is between 5 and 6 inches.
 10. The exercise device according to claim 1 wherein the block shaped body is made of a polymeric foam.
 11. The exercise device according to claim 8 wherein the block shaped body is made of a polymeric foam or a natural rubber.
 12. An exercise device comprising: a block shaped body having a front concave face surface portion, a rear concave face surface portion opposite the front concave face surface portion, a left concave end face surface portion, a right concave end face surface portion opposite the left concave end face surface portion, a top concave face surface portion, a bottom concave face surface portion opposite the top concave face surface portion, and four convex corner portions each merging with a different set of at least three of the front concave face surface portion, the rear concave face surface portion, the left concave end face surface portion, the right concave end face surface portion, the top concave face surface portion, and the bottom concave face surface portion.
 13. The exercise device according to claim 12 wherein a distance between the front concave face surface portion and the rear concave face surface portion is less than a distance between the left concave end face surface portion and the right concave end face surface portion.
 14. The exercise device according to claim 13 wherein a distance between the top concave face surface portion and the bottom concave face surface portion is greater than the distance between the front concave face surface portion and the rear concave face surface portion and less than the distance between the left concave end face surface portion and the right concave end face surface portion.
 15. The exercise device according to claim 14 wherein each corner portion has a dome shape.
 16. The exercise device according to claim 12 wherein a distance between the front concave face surface portion and the rear concave face surface portion is between 3 and 4 inches.
 17. The exercise device according to claim 13 wherein the distance between the front concave face surface portion and the rear concave face surface portion is between 3 and 4 inches.
 18. The exercise device according to claim 17 wherein a distance between the left concave end face surface portion and the right concave end face surface portion is between 6 and 7 inches.
 19. The exercise device according to claim 18 wherein a distance between the top concave face surface portion and the bottom concave face surface portion is between 5 and 6 inches.
 20. The exercise device according to claim 12 wherein convex corner portions each has a curved or straight portion spacing the rear concave face surface portion from the front concave face surface portion giving each of the corner portions a stretched dome shape. 